Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 21:2
So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, so that I may know their number.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David commands Joab and the troop commanders to conduct a nationwide census immediately after Satan incites him to do so. He issues the order to obtain a direct numerical report of the Israelite population.
The words — The Hebrew לְכ֗וּ (le.Khu) translates literally as "go," functioning as a direct military command to advance. David’s speech opens with וַ/יֹּ֨אמֶר (va/i.Yo.mer), meaning "and he said," which anchors the narrative action to his royal authority.
The thread — The survey directive parallels the administrative counting in 1 Chronicles 27:23 and the national assembly described in Judges 20:1. It stands in tension with the warning against relying on multiplied wealth and livestock in Deuteronomy 8:13.
Why it lands — The text records a king’s direct order to quantify his people without offering moral commentary or divine approval. It requires the reader to note the sequence of command, execution, and subsequent objection before drawing conclusions about the action’s legitimacy.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer–sheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.
Cross-references
- 1 Chronicles 27:23 David did not count the men aged twenty or under, because the LORD had said that He would make Israel as numerous as the stars of the sky.
- Deuteronomy 8:13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all that you have is multiplied,
- Judges 20:1 Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.
- 1 Samuel 3:20 So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.
- 2 Samuel 3:10 to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.”
- 2 Samuel 17:11 Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beersheba—a multitude like the sand on the seashore—be gathered to you, and that you yourself lead them into battle.
- 2 Samuel 24:2 So the king said to Joab the commander of his army, who was with him, “Go now throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and register the troops, so that I may know their number.”
- 2 Samuel 24:15 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.
- 1 Kings 4:25 Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.
- 2 Chronicles 30:5 So they established a decree to circulate a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem. For they had not observed it in great numbers as prescribed.